Massaging Pet Brush  With Interchangeable Heads

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a pet grooming device. It contains a head with bristles; the head can be interchanged with other heads for versatility. It contains a vibration device for messaging pets that vibrates the head and bristles, as well as a push plate to remove hair or fur from the bristles. The present invention is self-contained and battery operated, so it is easy to use and can be used anywhere.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 61/352,436 filed Jun.8, 2010, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to pet products, in particular to devices forgrooming pets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many people keep pets and enjoy grooming them, especially dogs and cats.While in the past it has been customary to groom pets with combs andbrushes, some pet owners like to pamper their pets further.

The present invention is a massaging pet brush with interchangeableheads that can vibrate. The vibration motion gives the pet a soothingmassage, and is especially helpful for older pets that may have healthproblems such as arthritis. The vibration of the brush bristles is alsouseful in removal of tangles from a pet's fur or hair, by using thevibration motion to gently coax a tangle out instead of pulling as onedoes with a comb or brush.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a pet grooming tool that is a pet brush with amassage function.

In a preferred embodiment, a battery is disposed in the handle of thebrush, and may be connected to a motor in the body of the brush near thehead of the brush. This may cause bristles disposed on the head of thebrush to vibrate when the motor is engaged. The level of vibration may,for instance, be adjustable. The head may also interchangeable withother heads. In addition, a preferred embodiment of the invention maycontain a push plate on the head that allows easy removal of hair or furfrom the brush bristles.

The present invention has the advantages of being one compact unit,battery operated, and therefore easy to use. In addition, the heads maybe interchangeable but may still retain the ability to be vibrated,which is perceived as an advantage over brushes in the prior art.Interchangeable heads give the user flexibility in that the brush can beused on various types of animals, and different types of heads can beused for different types of applications.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device for massaging pets.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device for brushing apet's fur or hair.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device withinterchangeable brush heads.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device with a push plateto remove hair from the brush head.

It is an object of the invention to provide a compact device that iseasy to use and transport.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device that can be used inany place or setting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the invention duringuse.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a pet grooming tool 10 with body 11, head 12, handle 13,handle covering 14, rear cover 15, opening 16, push plate 21, button 22,vibration level control knob 34, and bristles 36.

FIG. 2 shows a pet grooming tool 10 with body 11, head 12, handle 13,rear cover 15, push plate 21, button 22, reset device 23, electricalvibration device 31, battery compartment 32, electrical connection 33,vibration level control knob 34, battery 35, and bristles 36.

FIG. 3 shows a pet grooming tool 10 with body 11, head 12, handle 13,handle covering 14, rear cover 15, opening 16, push plate 21, button 22,vibration level control knob 34, and bristles 36.

FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate the invention as seen by a user.

In a preferred embodiment, the handle 12 may be sized and shaped to fita grasping adult human hand. The handle 12 may also be designed to housea standard battery such as, but not limited to, a battery designed for aportable flashlight, a remote control or some other portable electronicdevice.

The body 11 may be rigidly connected to the handle. The body 11 maycontain a battery powered DC motor that may be functionally connected tothe standard battery via a voltage or current controlling device suchas, but not limited to, a variable potentiometer.

The body 11 may also contain a vibration causing, rotatable element 31that may have an eccentric weight distribution. The vibration causingelement 31 may be connected to the DC motor such that rotation of themotor causes the rotatable element to rotate and, because of itseccentric weight distribution, vibrate.

In a preferred embodiment, there may be a vibration level control knobthat may be mechanically connected to the variable potentiometer in sucha way that movement of the control knob alters an amount of currentflowing through it. In this way, a user may vary the speed of rotationof the motor and hence the speed of rotation of the rotatable element.This change of speed of rotation may alter the magnitude or degree ofvibration caused by the eccentrically weighted, rotatable element.

The head 12 is preferably removably attached to the body. The head 12may have one or more bristles attached to the bristle face of the head.

In a preferred embodiment, there may be a push plate that is removablyattached to the head. The push plate may be shaped to conform to thebristle face of the head, and may have one or more holes through it thatare shaped to be a close fit to the one or more bristles on the head.

When the user is ready to groom his pet, they may use the pet groomingtool 10 as shown in FIG. 1. The user may grasp the handle 13 andcontacts the pet's body with the bristles 36 on the head 12. The usermay then brush the pet's fur or hair with the invention, and mayactivate the massaging vibration by rotating the vibration level controlknob 34, which may also allow them to adjust the vibration level. Thepet may then enjoy a soothing massage while being brushed and groomed.

FIG. 3 shows how the pet grooming tool 10 may be cleaned. Often whengrooming an animal the bristles of the grooming tool become clogged withfur or hair, and the groomer must pause to remove it. This processtypically takes both hands, and an uncooperative animal may escape whilethe groomer is cleaning the brush. With the present invention, if thebristles 36 of the head 12 become clogged with hair or fur, the user mayquickly and easily clean them by depressing the button 22. The buttonrecedes into the opening 16. This may cause the push plate 21 to move tothe position seen in FIG. 3. The push plate has holes that are forcedacross the bristles and remove fur and hair as they make contact. Theuser may easily pull or wipe the hair from the push plate and the endsof the bristles, then release the button. When the button 22 isreleased, the push plate may return to its original position as seen inFIG. 1. The user may choose to keep the massaging vibration on duringthis process or may turn it off; keeping it on may help with the furremoval by adding kinetic energy to the process. The push plate may beoptional and the brush may be sold with or without the push plate.

Using the push plate to remove fur or hair may be much easier and fasterthan trying to remove the fur or hair by hand, and thus speeds thegrooming process. This may be important in pet salons where a groomer istypically paid by the job, as it may speed the process and allows thegroomer to complete jobs faster. Additionally, the push plate may beemployed using the same hand that is holding the invention, leaving onehand free to control the animal. The fur or hair may be easily pulledoff the push plate with the hand holding the animal, or the hair or furcan be wiped off, for instance onto an apron. These advantages may beespecially helpful with a finicky animal; the animal is not released andthus may not escape, and the delay time for cleaning the bristles may belessened so the animal doesn't have as much time or opportunity to actin an unruly manner.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a preferred embodiment of theinvention. The battery 35 is shown as residing in a battery compartment32 in the handle 13. The rear cover 15 may open to allow the battery 35to be easily changed by the user. An electrical connection 33,preferably a wire or series of wires, may connect the battery 35 to theelectrical vibration device 31, which is preferably a direct currentmotor. This motor causes a vibration of the head 12, which in turnvibrates the bristles 36. The electrical vibration device 31 ispreferably powered by the battery 35, but may use electrical power froman outlet as well. The battery 35 may be rechargeable and there may be aconnection in the rear cover 15 that allows the battery to be rechargedin a charger or directly in a wall socket.

FIG. 2 also shows the button 22 and the reset device 23 which mayoperate the push plate 21. The button 22 may, for instance, be depressedto force the push plate 21 away from the head 11 and thus to clean hairor fur from the bristles 36. When the button 22 is released, the resetdevice 23 may engage and cause the push plate 21 to return to itsoriginal position. The push plate may have a stop position in betweenthe fully extended and original positions; this stop position may beachieved with a catch on the reset device.

The vibration level control knob 34 is shown as an adjustable devicethat is rotated to increase or decrease the vibration frequency. It maybe connected to the electrical vibration device 31 through theelectrical connection 33. The batteries may be connected to the rotaryswitch, which is a potentiometer/rheostat) which controls the currentfeeding the motor and therefore the degree of vibration.

The head 12 may be fixed or may be interchangeable. Different heads mayhave different numbers of bristles or bristles of differing sizes orcompositions, or may have bristles arranged in different patterns. Forinstance, one may use one head for grooming a dog, a different head forgrooming a cat, and another type of head altogether for grooming ahorse. The head may be any shape and may have any number of bristles orgroupings of bristles. The bristles may, for instance, be madecone-shaped and made of a flexible or a hard rubber, or they may be thinand cylindrical and made of horse hair. Any combination of shapes andmaterials may be used for the bristles, and one head may have one typeor a variety of types of bristles on it. The bristles may be differinglengths.

The head may be any shape. A round shape is preferred, but any shape maybe used, including but not limited to, square, triangular, diamond,star, pentagonal or hexagonal.

The head may be any size; the head is preferably between 1 cm and 100 cmin diameter, with a preferred diameter of 5 to 15, preferably 10 cm.Different head sizes may be used for different animal species, althoughthe heads would fit on the same size grooming tool. For instance, for acat a head with a diameter of 7 cm may be used, while for a horse a headwith a diameter of 15 cm may be used. The type of bristles used may alsobe different; while one used the same grooming tool, soft hair bristlesmay be used on the cat while harder plastic bristles are used on thehorse.

The handle 13 may be ergonomically designed, and may be any shape ordesign. It may be covered with a covering 14, which may be soft forcomfort or may be a material that allows better traction or gripping.The covering 14 may cover the entire handle or portions of the handle.The covering 14 is optional.

The rear cover 15 may use any type of mechanism for opening, such as butnot limited to, a spring loaded clip, a hinge mechanism, or a slot andgroove mechanism.

The push plate 21 may be permanently affixed or may be removable. In thecase of interchangeable heads, the push plate is affixed to a head byforcing the bristles 36 of the head 12 through holes in the push plate,such that the push plate 21 rests flush against the head 12, as inFIG. 1. The push plate may be any shape or size, but preferably conformsin shape to the head. The holes in the push plate that pass over thebristles may be any shape or size, but are preferably round and arepreferably comparable in size to the bristles such that there issufficient contact between the push plate and the bristles to removehair or fur from the bristles. The holes in the push plate may containbarbed sides or other features for more efficiently removing hair or furfrom bristles.

The electrical vibration device may vibrate the head in any direction,including but not limited to, circular, up and down, side to side, orany combination of all or any of the above.

The head may have a swivel function. This may be achieved through anymechanism, including but not limited to, a ball and socket, universaljoint, or flexible joint. The swivel function allows the head tomaintain contact with the pet regardless of the position of the handle.The pivot may have a limited range of motion or a full range of motion.

The invention may have interchangeable heads that have a trimmer fortrimming long or thick pet hair. The trimmer could be a razor or a combwith blades. The trimmer could be disposed on a portion of the headwhile the remainder of the head contains bristles, and could be integralto the head or could be removable. The trimmer may function as a trimmeror as a comb.

The present invention is an improvement over the prior art relating topet grooming devices in that it has a vibration device which can be usedto massage a pet, interchangeable heads which allow flexibility in typesof massage and types of pets that can be massaged with this groomingtool, and a push plate with makes hair or fur removal from the bristlespossible using just one hand, thus freeing a hand for controlling thepet or animal. The components are all integrated into a compact designwith an ergonomically correct handle, which makes the invention easy touse.

The grooming tool maybe self-contained, being powered by a battery in abattery compartment, so it doesn't need to be plugged into an outlet,and thus may be used anywhere. For instance, one may use it at a dog orcat show to groom pets before showing, or on a farm to groom a horse orgoat. The interchangeable heads may make it useful for nearly any typeof animal, and households with multiple animals may want a separate headfor each pet.

The grooming tool may have a function that also allows a user to wash ananimal. This washer function may be a tube disposed in the handle thatcan be filled with liquid through a pluggable hole in the handle body;the liquid could then be dispensed out the head of the invention throughthe bristles or through holes in the head by pressing a trigger orbutton. Alternately, there may be a threaded connector on the rear cover15 that connects to a faucet or hose for continuous water flow throughthe tube.

The materials of manufacture for the invention include, but are notlimited to, plastics, rubbers, metals, hair or animal products, glass orglass products, elastomers, thermoplastic elastomers, textiles, or anycombination of these or other materials.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure hasbeen made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

1. A portable pet grooming tool, comprising: a handle, sized and shapedto fit a grasping adult human hand and to house a standard battery; abody rigidly connected to said handle and containing a battery poweredDC motor functionally connected to said standard battery via a variablepotentiometer; a vibration causing, rotatable element having aneccentric weight distribution, connected to said motor such thatrotation of said motor causes said rotatable element to rotate andvibrate; a vibration level control knob, mechanically connected to saidvariable potentiometer such that movement of said control knob alters anamount of current being supplied by said battery to said battery poweredDC motor, thereby varying a speed of rotation of said motor and of saidrotatable element, thereby altering a degree of vibration caused by saidrotatable element; a head, removably attached to said body, comprisingone or more bristles attached to a bristle face of said head; and a pushplate, removably attached to said head and shaped to conform to saidbristle face of said head, said push plate comprising one or more holesshaped to be a close fit to said one or more bristles.
 2. The groomingdevice of claim 1 wherein said push plate is operated by a button andreset device in the body.
 3. The grooming device of claim 2, whereinsaid button moves said push plate out from said body when said button ispushed inward.
 4. The grooming device of claim 3, wherein said pushplate is controlled by a button and a reset device; said button pushessaid push plate to an outer position, and said reset device returns saidpush plate to the starting position.
 5. The grooming device of claim 1wherein said head further comprises a fur trimmer.
 6. The groomingdevice of claim 1 wherein said head further comprises a liquiddispenser.
 7. The grooming device wherein said body is attached to saidhandle via a swivel joint.